NPHC fraternity taking part in Greek Week

By Sam Wilson

Published April 20, 2007

Although most of the chapters participating in Greek Week are either fraternities from the Interfraternity Council or sororities from the Panhellenic Association, Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity from the National Pan-Hellenic Council has also stepped up to compete.

"I want to congratulate them," NPHC President Christopher Addae said. "For them to go in and take on such an endeavor, especially with such low numbers they have, it's something that I hold in my very high recommendation and commendation."

Kappa Alpha Psi President Kernef Jackson said his chapter's experience with Greek Week has been positive. He said his chapter's pairing with Pi Beta Phi sorority and Acacia and Sigma Chi fraternities has been a good fit.

"We're never left out with anything," Jackson said. "It's like they said, 'We'll take the time to welcome a new organization.'"

Despite the fraternity's low membership, it has found time to participate in events. On Tuesday night, two of Kappa Alpha Psi members participated in Fling.

"We want to participate in everything we can," Jackson said.

Jackson said he would recommend that other NPHC chapters get involved in Greek Week.

Even though his team lost, Jackson said the highlight of the week was the basketball game. He said he enjoyed the packed crowd and the cheering for every play.

"It was just crazy to see them that excited over that," Jackson said of the crowd.

Addae said the NPHC chapters' lack of participation is not due to a lack of interest. Instead, he said the Greek Week system is filled with tradition, some elements of which have been hard for other chapters to break into. He said his council's chapters constantly discuss the possibility of joining.

He said one such obstacle is the fact that Greek Week tends to be designed for larger chapters, whereas NPHC chapters tend to range from four to 15 members.

"Greek Week itself is just a very big machine," he said. "There's a lot of tradition that goes into it, a lot of work. It's just very new to us."

Kappa Alpha Psi is the smallest chapter participating in Greek Week with five members and is also the smallest chapter in NPHC.

IFC spokesman Jeffery Beeson said this chapter's participation might inspire other chapters to participate: "It's going to take this one time for someone to break the ice."

Beeson said if other chapters from NPHC were to participate, they would likely be paired with chapters from other councils, but that the procedure is not yet in place.